Garmin Edge vs Vivoactive 3 for PM5 data upload to Garmin Connect (then Strava)

[ScubaCyclist]

I enjoy road cycling as my primary form of physical activity, bought a Concept2 rower with a PM5 in March 2020, at the very beginning of the Covid 19 shutdown (just as Concept2 was running out of stock).

After some trial and error, I ended up using the Garmin Connect third party ErgIQ app on a Garmin Edge 1030, along with the ErgDATA Android app to collect data.
Specifically: Sync ErdDATA app on phone with PM5 via Bluetooth, THEN Edge 1030 / ErgIQ and HRM strap via ANT+.
I chose this path as it appears to be the only option for Garmin Connect training effect and Connect2 logbook entry, necessary to manually enter some data to Garmin Connect.

As the price of the Vivoactive 3 watch dropped substantially this holiday season ($69 for factory refurb with 2 year warranty), I bought my first activity watch, have been using it to broadcast HR to my Edge 1030 when cycling, eliminating the need for the uncomfortable HRM chest strap.

After reading many of the options proposed online, I tested my first all of the above approach today - see images below:
ERGdata connected via Bluetooth to PM5
ErgIQ on Edge 1030 connected via ANT+ to PM5
HRM chest strap connected via ANT+ to Edge 1030 and PM5
Vivioactive 3 default rowing app, optical HRM

Due to file size limitations, images of file data have been uploaded to the Dropbox folder below:
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/6afjfzud9e0q ... 5kAWa?dl=0

The ErgIQ app has been uploaded to the Vivoactive 3, but I was unable to determine if it was possible to run in the background with the default indoor rowing activity, creating a file with both sets of data - best of both worlds, eliminating the need for the Edge and HRM chest strap. I attribute some of the disparity of the calorie burn data to a quirk in the HRM chest strap, temporarily losing contact during 3 of the first few intervals, despite applying aloe vera to the contacts.

My next attempt will be the ErqIQ app on the Vivoactive 3 without the Edge 1030, research further online to determine if there is a way for it to run in the background with the default rowing activity, collect data from both. Will also confirm that the Vivoactive 3 will broadcast ANT+ HRM data to the PM5, allowing a Bluetooth connection for ErgData.

Comments, questions, suggestions are welcome, encouraged.

[CJOttawa]

Ditch ErgIQ. The VA3 can't multitask. Just use "Row Indoor" on your watch.

Use a chest strap HRM (ANT+) send HR data to both your watch and the PM5. Wrist-optical HR is next to useless for rowing. Have ErgData log the row and send to your Concept2 log online.

Yes, you CAN link your Concept2 logbook to Garmin and have it push the workout there - if you also log to the watch, you'll have two entries in Garmin Connect. The Concept2 log entry will have precise row data (distance, time, pace etc). The one that went through the watch won't have a distance but you can delete it as your physiological metrics are "sticky" - Garmin will keep your weekly training load/intensity minutes etc despite the activity being deleted.

Personally, I don't link the two anymore, preferring to have my C2 log keep my precise, verified row data, and Garmin just for logging the physiological side - how my body responded. Also of note: the high-end Garmin watches (Fenix 6, Forerunner 945) will talk directly to the PM5 as a power meter using the "Row Indoor" sport so you get more data into Connect without having to sync to the Concept2 log.

ErgIQ/Garmin/C2 log discussed ad-nauseum here, prior to power-meter support on the Fenix: viewtopic.php?p=460624#p460624

[flatbread]

I know you want to use Garmin Connect, but if you just want to track training load as fatigue vs. freshness, there's a simpler solution -- just sync your C2 logbook to Strava, then use Strava's HR-based training load model. Or, you could sync Strava with the intervals.icu website, and use their model.

a HR strap, and ErgData on the phone, are enough -- an extra Garmin device isn't needed.

I use intervals.icu to track load on the bike and the erg. I think it's more streamlined and usable than Garmin Connect.

[Tsnor]

... I attribute some of the disparity of the calorie burn data to a quirk in the HRM chest strap, temporarily losing contact during 3 of the first few intervals, despite applying aloe vera to the contacts. ..."

FWIW: Companies use WATTS to mean the actual work done, and CALORIES to mean the amount of food energy (in Kcal) your body need to process to produce the watts of work done. The algorithms used to get Calories from measured watts vary from company to company, so expect reported calories to differ for the same workload. Measured watts from Concept 2 is the same as watts from Lifecycle or from a bike power meter, but the same watts for the same time on each of these devices will produce different reported calories based on different guesses on how efficiently your body burns fuel (and how hard the marketing team pushes to show that their machine burns more calories than competition).

Scientific conversion 1000 Watts = 859.85 Calories per hour
Typical exercise bike/rower 1000 Watts ~= 3430 Calories per hour @ 25% efficiency.